The invention is directed to a folding motorized prone cart, and particularly to a prone cart having a folding frame or patient support capable of supporting and positioning the patient in a variety of positions for maximizing patient comfort and avoiding pressure ulcers and fatigue.
Prone carts are used to provide mobility and a more independent life style to individuals bedridden for weeks or months during the healing process of pressure ulcers, typically located in the sacral ischial or other areas of the body, that preclude their use of a wheelchair for mobility. In such cases the patients must lie in bed on a pressure-reducing surface, and be turned from side to side periodically. To get out of bed yet avoid putting pressure on their ischial or sacral surfaces, they need to lie face down and on their stomach in bed to avoid putting pressure on the areas adversely affected by the pressure ulcers or infection resulting therefrom.
It is therefore necessary to improve patient comfort and mobility with a prone cart that will support properly the patient and allow him/her to look around and have some permissible level of mobility in its surroundings.
Prone carts for carrying patients who have disabilities and/or are paralyzed take the form of wagon-like devices which allow the patient to lie on a body support or patient support in an horizontal reclined or prone position while being moved from place to place. Some carts are propelled manually by the patient, while others may be powered and have a control for the patient to steer and maneuver the cart independently.
Prone carts tend to be relatively long, because they carry a body support or patient support disposed horizontally. In order to accommodate patients of differing height, the patient support or body support is at least 180 cm long (six feet). When the body support is mounted on a wheeled frame, the length of the cart can exceed 180 cm (six feet) in length and is often as wide as or wider than a standard wheelchair. Accordingly, prone carts are difficult to maneuver and turn in tight spaces.
Steerable, self-powered prone carts are driven from front by direct arm movement. These carts allow the patient to move around the hospital or home environment, but with difficulty, because the cart has a large turning radius.
On some self-powered prone carts, the patient lies prone on a moveable body support which may pivot about a central horizontal axis such that the front of the body support may be elevated at an angle relative to the horizontal. Such an arrangement allows the patient to better visualize the environment, see ahead of the cart so that the patient can properly steer and direct the motion of the cart, and interact with other persons.
One such cart has a one-piece body support that pivots like a seesaw so that the patient can elevate his or her head to a more comfortable position. However, the one-piece body support does not tilt enough to allow the patient to recline with his or her head elevated sufficiently to be comfortable for an extended period of time. Also, because the body support is one piece, the patient is essentially supported by the same part of the body all the time which can result in discomfort and fatigue, and even the possible development of pressure ulcers elsewhere on the body.
Known prone carts do not have any place to conveniently store personal items or to allow the patient to write or read while in the prone position.